While ace shuttlers world No 7 PV Sindhu and World Championships silver medallist Srikanth Kidambi kept Indian hopes alive by storming through to the women’s and men’s singles semi-finals respectively, the Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down in a closely-fought quarter-final against Korean duo Kang Minhyuk and Seo Jeungjae in the Korea Open Super 500 on Friday.
On Friday though, the Indian played better badminton than his opponent, who is returning to international badminton after a two-year layoff. Although Srikanth won the opening game 21-12, the second game was far more competitive as Son came back strongly to win it 21-18. Having taken the match to a deciding third game, it was Srikanth who eventually prevailed to win the match 21-12, 18-21, 21-12 to go through to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles quarterfinal match, Sindhu got the better of a familiar foe, Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who she also beat in the final of the Swiss Open last month. However, unlike the close first game in the Swiss Open final recently, Sindhu was off to a flier in the first game, winning it 21-10. The second game was relatively harder as Busanan started to rally well. But it was Sindhu who claimed the win with a 21-16 score in the second game.
With this win, Sindhu reserved her place in what will be her fourth semi-final appearance of the season and is on course to potentially eye a victory in this tournament for the third time. She will face the winner of the match between Japan’s Saena Kawakami and fourth-ranked Korea’s An Seyoung. Meanwhile, the Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were defeated 22-18, 18-21, 22-20 by the Korean pair of Kang Minhyuk and Seo In what was a thrilling opening game, the relatively new Korean pairing of Kang-Seo eventually clinched it 22-18 after the Indian duo had managed to save one game point earlier.